Flush tank control means



Dec. 2, 1958 P. c. TRAVER 2,862,210

FLUSH TANK CONTROL MEANS Filed May 14, 1957 Philip C. 7/0 ver 42 FIG 2IN VEN TOR.

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FLUSH TANK CONTROL MEANS Philip C. Traver, Far Rockaway, N. Y., assignorof onehalf to Harry Forman, Forest Hills, N. Y.

Application May 14, 1957, Serial No. 659,100

2 Claims. (Cl. 4-67) The present invention relates to certain new anduseful improvements in simple and practical mechanical means whichfunctions to unseat a tank ball in a flush tank so that the regulatedcharge of flush water in the tank may be delivered therefrom to thecustomary toilet bowl in a now somewhat generally well known manner.

As is also well known, it is almost invariably true that in the domestictype flush tank and bowl assembly a ball or an equivalent valve appearsto be the best mode and means for valving the tank and delivering thewater into the bowl. Almost invariably, insofar as has been ascertained,mechanical expedients of one type or another have been used to unseatthe ball valve when the bowl is flushed. The object of the instantinvention is to structurally, functionally and otherwise improve uponthe flush tank control means. To this end and briefly stated, the ballvalve is confined for operation in a vertically elongated cage which is.attached to and rises from the valve seat at the bottom of the flushtank. The valve seat, as usual, has communicating connection with thebowl by way of a pipe or an equivalent conduit.

A push button valve is to be provided, in accordance with the presentconcept, for the tank at a suitable point of operation. It serves, underordinary circumstances, to allow water under pressure from the citywater supply to pass therethrough and into the conduit alreadymentioned. This is accomplished in such a way that the stream of waterunder pressure lifts the ball valve up causing it to rise in the cageand to float upwardly in the water in the tank. Therefore, as soon asthe ball valve is lifted the water which is already trapped in ameasured amount in the tank flushes down through the conduit into thebowl.

More specifically, novelty is predicated on a valved pipe line betweenthe water supply pipe leading to the tank and the stated conduit. Thisincludes a cylinder arranged in the conduit. In addition a loaded orweighted piston is reciprocable in the cylinder. The piston has a headin its upper end which engages beneath the ball valve and when the wateris turned on, the piston comes into play, lifts the valve and thereforesets the flush tank into operation.

In addition to the structural improvements the concept has to do with anadaptation and an arrangement which, it is believed, better fulfills themanufacturing requirements and economies of manufacturers, the sale andother business demands of wholesalers, retailers, plumbers and othersand, in addition, fulfills the needs of the various users of suchequipment.

The use of experimental models has also shown that this invention notonly better fulfills the requirements of adaptations in this category ofaccomplishment, it is advantageous in that leakage is reduced to aminimum and noisy operation is virtually eliminated.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparentfrom the following description and the accompanying drawing.

4 United States Patent P 2,862,210 Patented Dec. 2, 1958 In the drawingwherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughoutthe views:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a flush tank and bowl combinationembodying the instant invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view showing a portion of the tank andsufiicient of the other parts to illustrate the chief features andadvantages of the invention, the ball or tank valve being shown closed;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the position of thepiston and valve when the valve is open; and

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 1 the toilet bowlis denoted generally by the numeral 6 and the flush tank by the numeral8. On the other hand the pipe which supplies water to the tank in asomewhat usual manner to be controlled by the inlet valve and waterlevel control float arm is denoted at 10. With reference now to Figs. 2and 3 the overflow pipe which is also conventional is denoted at 12.This is communicatively connected with a fitting at the bottom 14 of thetank in the water space 16 in the manner shown. The fitting 18 has avalve seat 20 for the free floating tank ball or bowl valve 22. Thevalve in this improved arrangement is confined for operation in arelatively tall open-work wire or an equivalent cage 24 which is securedat its lower end to the valve seat fitting.

The delivery conduit between the tank and bowl is denoted generally bythe numeral 26 and this comprises a suitably constructed pipe the elbow28 of which is connected with the depending portion of the fitting 18.If needed similarly constructed and performing prior art devices may be,of course, cited as covering similar adaptations. The improvement hereis in providing means for exerting a stream of fluid pressure on theball valve and lifting it from its closed position (Fig. 2) to its openposition (Fig. 3). It is believed that perhaps various sources of fluidunder pressure could be tapped for this purpose. It is preferred to usethe available source of water to do so. That is to say, while a separatesupply of air under pressure could be delivered beneath the ball to liftit up and unseat it the preferred construction is that wherein a valvedpipe line 30 is utilized. One end of the pipe line 32 is connected tothe water pipe 10 and the other end is connected to an elbow 34. Betweenthe ends a suitable valve (not detailed) 36 is provided and this in turnis provided with a push button which is located in a convenient positionfor use by the user of the bowl. By pressing the button water from thesupply line may be caused to dash into a cylinder 40 ar ranged in theconduit 20 in the manner seen in Fig. 2. The cylinder has its lower endportion connected suitably at 42 with the elbow. The cylinder is indirect alignment with and extends up into the neck portion of thefitting 18. Not only this it is provided within the confines of theconduit with ports 44 which are valved by the-lead weight or weightedpiston valve 46. The valve stem or rod 48 has a head 50 on its upper endwhich is directly engageable beneath for lifting the ball 22 ofi itsseat in the manner shown.

With this construction it will be evident that this invention will servea long felt need insofar as all concerned are involved. In fact it willsave on water bills, will reduce rattling to an absolute minimum. It iseasy for all to operate including children. There is nothing complicatedor to get out of order. Not only this the push button control aspect ismodern and up to date. The ball is free to rest on the valve seat insuch a manner and is caged in such a way as to avoid fouling and thereis no jamming or rusting of rods to interfere with the operation.

The construction shows the water pressure supply entering the cylinder40"by way of a pipe line 30 and valve 36' 'from the source 10- in amanner to force the piston 46 and piston rod up. This dislodges thecaged ball from its seat and allows the ball to float to the top ofthewater in' the toilet'tank. When the lead piston and push rod goes beyondthe ports or holes 44 the water pressure escapes throughthese holesand'thus keeps-the lead piston -just above them in' a fixed position;This enables the-pistonand -rod assemblyto stay within-the cylinder. theresult is that parts gradually dropbacktotheir original or startingpositions and the tankis readied for the next cycle of operation;

As before mentioned although a valvedwaterjpipefill' is provided vforsupplying iwater tofthecylinder and-piston, it is withinthe purview 'oftheconceptto-utilize air under pressure.

The foregoing is considered as, illustrative only of the principlesofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to'limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation'shown and'described, andaccordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted "to, falling 'within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination, a flush tank provided at its bottom with a fittinghaving a valve seat situated in the water space of the tank, a waterdrainage conduit communicatively connected at one end with said fitting,the other end of said conduit being adapted to be connected to a toiletbowl to deliver water to the bowl, a ball tank valve normally resting onsaidseat, an openwork cage attached at a lower end thereof to thefitting and rising within the water space in said tank and serving toconfine said ball valve in a manner to allow the latter to The momentthe *pressureis offat'this'point' travel upwardly with the tank waterand then descend to take the position on its seat in the usual way, acylinder of a cross-section less than the cross-section of the passagethrough the fitting, said cylinder being removably mounted at a lowerend in the conduit and extending across the passage of the conduit andhaving its upper end extending into a lower end portion of the fittingand concentrically arranged and spaced from the passage in the fitting,a pipe line connected with. the cylinder at the lower end of thecylinder and adapted to supply water under pressure into the cylinder, apiston fitting slidably and operably in the bore of said cylinder andhaving an operating member operatively cooperable with said ball valve,that portion of said cylinder within the confines of the passage insaidconduit having ports therein and said piston constituting a valve andcooperating in predetermined timed association with the ports.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 and wherein said operating memberbetween the ball valve and piston comprises. a rod extending upwardlyfromthe upper end of the piston and being provided with a disk-like headwhich is adapted to contact the ball valve, the upper end of saidcylinder terminating in a plane below the plane of the valve seat, thelower end of the cylinder extending and below said conduit and beingexternally and internally threaded to facilitate making a connectionbetween the pipe and cylinder and also between the cylinder and conduit.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,501,620 Reed July.15, 1924 7 1,516,391 Ludwig Nov. 18, 1924' 1,553,616Johnson Sept. 15, 1925 2,341,116 Owens Feb. 8, 1944

